Unresolved Tension
by whatariot
Summary: Oliver gets to the bottom of relationship strife. A one-shot. Mild language.


_This is just kind of a oneshot brain detour in writing the next Forgotten Memories chapter. It's coming it's just slow and the first draft was eaten by a battery dying. That was an unpleasant story._

**I still own nada.**

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><p>"That is just disgusting," Sam said watching Oliver stuff more of his sandwich into his mouth.<p>

Unfazed, Oliver chewed a few times and then swallowed the bolus of what was once meat, spreadable cheese-like product and onion. "Zoe's latest health kick started last week. This is greasy delicious heaven. You clearly don't know what you're missing," he replied with a shrug.

Sam looked at him skeptically before taking another bite of his hamburger.

Oliver paused clearly thinking over his next sentence before shaking his head and taking another bite.

"What?" Sam asked with an irritated tone, noting his friend's unusual reticence.

Oliver once again shook his head and focused, somewhat excessively on the potato chips on his plate.

Sam shrugged and went back to picking at his French fries when a loud sigh from Oliver interrupted his lunch. "All right, fine, I'm listening. What is it?" Sam questioned, leaning back in his seat and tossing down the food in his hand. At Oliver's faux surprise look he snorted. "Don't give me that. You've got something to say so say it," he snapped crossing his arms and waiting with a scowl.

Oliver put down the chip in his hand, holding up a finger to signal waiting for him to finish chewing. He swallowed and then began taking large sips of his drink.

Sam remained less than amused.

Finally sitting back Oliver sighed again and met Sam's eyes.

"And?" Sam questioned rudely looking pointedly at his watch and the door of the diner.

Oliver seemed to want to hold his mystery speech for longer but caved in the face of Sam's annoyance. "She wasn't wrong," he said simply reaching for another chip and crunching loudly.

"What?" Sam asked incredulously.

"McNally wasn't wrong," Oliver clarified taking a large bite of the pickle on his plate, ignoring Sam's increasing ire.

"She wasn't wrong? What do you mean she wasn't wrong, she nearly got herself killed! Again!" Sam said, his voice increasing as his temper cracked.

If Oliver had been a different man, and hadn't known Sam for nearly two decades he might have stopped there. He might have thought that taunting the tiger that was Sam's somewhat overdeveloped protective streak in regard to his girlfriend was not worth the explosion. He probably would never have broached the subject in the first place. Oliver however, was not that man. "She still wasn't wrong, and despite what you think she really wasn't in any danger," he countered politely, continuing to munch on his chips.

The sudden slam of Sam's casted wrist on the table startled not only Oliver but the other patrons in the diner. The waitress abruptly turned from her path to ask if they needed anything else and headed back behind the counter, wide-eyed.

Seemingly embarrassed, Sam flushed a deep red. "I'm not having this discussion right now, least of all with you," he said venomously.

Oliver's countenance remained unchanged. "Whatever brother," he said shaking his head. "You shouldn't smack that cast around by the way, unless you want the doctors to explain to McNally that an x-ray from a fall looks vastly different from a fracture from punching a wall," he added with a motion at Sam's cast.

The glare Sam shot him could have melted glass.

Thinking about it Oliver understood where Sam was coming from. After Sam was snatched from his undercover apartment it had been a rough few months. The suspension had been the least Sam and Andy's difficulties. Internal Affairs felt it necessary to dig fully into their previous relationship. Everyone in the station had been quizzed and many uncomfortable questions were asked about a relationship which those involved had considered extremely private. Each case they worked together was dissected. Boyko was called in from headquarters to attest to their characters. Luke was questioned (and lied for Andy's sake as much as his own) about his knowledge of a previous involvement between the partners. Even Boyd managed to put his say in from his deepest banishment in the impound lot by the airport. Each shift they worked was a new exercise in avoidance. They didn't dare speak to one another unless absolutely required and even then it seemed like an IA detective was always present. Needless to say it was intrusive, insulting and humiliating for both parties.

To everyone but Oliver's and perhaps Traci and Noelle's surprise, McNally and Sam still managed to piece together some semblance of a relationship. Outside of work they were frequently together and by all accounts very happy together. At work it was purely professional, and after another few months even Best relaxed enough to pair them together. It was actually the professional pairing which started showing the cracks in their foundation. Six months into their official relationship and they had reached breaking point.

Oliver didn't know the details but he gathered the gist. When under stress Sam, it seemed, turned into a melancholy drunk, so it was three nights ago at poker when the explanation for the tense silences and pointed refusal to make eye-contact came out. Oliver could bring the conversation to mind easily.

_"She told me she loved me," Sam said morosely into his cards._

_"And that's a bad thing?" Jerry asked curiously tossing another chip into the pile._

_"She told me she loved me but she didn't want to be around me," Sam added with a grumble._

_Jerry made the appropriate "Oh" noise and met Oliver's eye line while shaking his head rapidly at Oliver. There was more to this story._

_"Is that all she said, buddy?" Oliver asked, trying to lead the conversation out._

_"Yes," Sam said sadly fingering the dwindling number of poker chips in front of him._

Jerry shook his head to the negative firmly once again but Oliver just shrugged. What could he do if Sam wasn't willing to share? If he knew anything it was that prying with Sam was ineffective and only lead to reticence later on so he let it go.

What had been causing the rift between the couple all came to an unpleasant and public head just three days ago. Jerry had managed to overhear, in a combination of being a detective with access to the lounge and living with Traci Nash, that McNally had somehow been recruited to help in a homicide investigation. Who of course would be heading this somewhat secretive operation but Callaghan. It was a straight-forward deal. The guy under investigation it seemed fancied himself as the next 'Jack the Ripper'. His MO was the same every time and he was consistent in sticking to the neighborhood next to where he lived. He'd pick the newest and least know girl and they'd find her strangled body laid out with flowers the next day. It was pretty much decided he was probably the dumbest killer they'd ever run across but they couldn't get enough probable cause to get a warrant for his DNA. All McNally had to do was do her 'really bad prostitute' routine on a designated corner and signal when the suspect propositioned her. Vice would step in, they'd snag his DNA and then with any luck they'd have caught a murderer. Despite apparently having seen McNally's file on the mission, spoken to a friend in vice who assured him it was all on the up-and-up, all Sam had seen was 'Bait'. Unfortunately for Sam he attempted the cardinal sin of a relationship; he gave her an ultimatum.

"I swear to God Andy, you do this and we're done," Sam shouted out as he watched his girlfriend storm away from him.

His words had her turning on her heel in both shock and fury. She opened her mouth to begin what was sure to be a scathing retort before taking a deep breath and just walking away.

Like an angry bull the motion seemed to set him off more. Sam stomped off in the other direction and slammed out of the division lounge's side door. Once in the alley he quickly slammed his fist into the wall. A trip to the walk-in-clinic, two x-rays and a lecture on getting anger management therapy from a very not-impressed orthopedist and Sam had a cast and a giant chip on his shoulder.

Yesterday morning, seemingly in spite of himself, Sam managed to finagle himself a seat on the surveillance van. Rather than informing his girlfriend of this however he continued his decidedly asinine behavior and took every opportunity he could to goad her. If his once obvious antics for her attention had been pigtail pulling, this was shoving her to the ground and throwing dirt on her. It was pretty obvious her lack of reaction to his barbs was driving the increasingly unpleasant situation. Oliver had been compelled to step in more than once. Andy seemed to take it in stride but even Oliver really just wanted her to deck him.

By that night the tension had hit a new high. To anyone who really knew Sam it was obvious he was a nervous wreck. He spent twenty minutes checking and re-checking the equipment. He re-checked the positioning points for the backup teams. He even handed Oliver a small knife and instructed him to give it to Andy. He seemed to realize he'd pushed her beyond where it was acceptable. He took his place in the surveillance van and the rest of the team was in place shortly thereafter. They were just waiting on Andy to arrive at the location. The equipment was on and recording when Andy's voice came through the speakers.

"Are you going to be my Pirate Prince there with that eyepatch, baby?"

The van sprung into action. Maguire, the head of Vice, swore a blue streak. Andy wasn't in position so she could be anywhere in five blocks.

"How much?" a man's voice asked nervously.

"Well it's just your day, sweetheart. In front of the Lucky Dragon and everyone gets luckier." Andy replied quickly.

Sam swore the van left the ground as the gas pedal was slammed to the floor. She was only two blocks away.

"That doesn't tell me how much," the man's voice replied in a somewhat less friendly tone.

Hooker Andy sighed dramatically. "Well what do you want, just a little appetizer or the full entre?" she asked twirling her hair and seriously hoping that backup was on their way.

"All of it," he said testily.

She was about the reply when two unmarked cars and the surveillance van surrounded the car. Andy pulled her badge from her waistband. The man was dragged from his car and cuffed in seconds and Andy sighed in relief.

Oliver approached from the second unmarked car but paused as he saw Sam racing up to McNally. He reached her swiftly and ran his hand up and down her arms as though checking her for injury. He pulled her into a tight hug and rocked from side to side, comforting himself as much as her. Oliver watched as Sam pulled back to check her for injury again when the hand flew from nowhere. Oliver stood stunned as McNally's palm collided with Sam's cheek. She then burst into tears and ran directly to Oliver begging him to take her home. Sam stood, still apparently in shock even as Oliver pulled away with the hysterical coworker and friend in his car. Jerry called last night and demanded Oliver 'fix it' whatever that meant.

So this afternoon, here they sat. Sam, still clearly furious over the turn of events and still alienated from his love. Oliver, sitting across from him was still trying really hard not to smack his friend into sense. "You were wrong brother. Better to admit it, apologize and make it up to her than keep fighting the inevitable and making yourself miserable in the process," he said despite his friend's glare. "Don't give me that," Oliver echoed Sam's previous words. "You were awful to her that entire day. You deserved to be slapped. You actually deserved more than that and I was impressed at her restraint."

Sam sighed. "I know" he said grudgingly. Oliver waved in what Sam assumed was another request for coffee. "I handled it badly and she didn't deserve what I said. I mean, I know it sounds ridiculous but I just kept hearing 'undercover' and I lost it. I saw her tied to a chair in Brennan's basement but this time Brennan was this murdering freak and I watched him hurt her," Sam shuddered. "I thought I was finally over those nightmares but they came back."

"You should have told me that instead of acting like such an ass then," Andy said from behind a startled Sam. "Thanks for calling Ollie," she added with a nod.

Oliver nodded back with a smile. "Well it looks like my work is done brother. Try not to screw it up," he said standing up and stretching. "Don't be too hard on him McNally. That was one heck of a slap," Oliver added picking up his coat from the chair and heading to the front register.

Oliver watched subtlety as the couple began what had been a weeks overdue talk. He smiled to himself as he watched their hands intertwine. If they could stop long enough to actually talk instead of react they would be just fine. With his assigned chore done Oliver felt lighter. Now was the problem of getting the bathroom scale to reflect it.


End file.
